PTR to CBR -- an August 2012 Adventure

[mickeystoontown]

I'm so very sorry to hear of your loss! Pets become a part of our family and it's tough when you lose one.

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

I'm so sorry, Ann. That must have been very difficult.

 

[DrMomof3]

I'm so sorry about your cat. We recently lost our beloved black lab and we still miss her every day.

On a littler note I LOVED the you-tube video. Almost spit out my drink!

Amanda

 

[JDailey]

So sorry for your loss!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Ok, just had to take a little break for a bit to deal with the upheaval at home. But, here I am!!! And with only 18 days left to go! That’s right folks, 18 days!! I just can’t believe it. All this planning and saving and creating and it’s all coming to an end! Then I get right back up on that horse and plan for next August!! Hee Hee!!

And today I received my MICKEY MAIL!!!!! Yay for Mickey Mail!!! So, I have everything (almost) I need now. Just waiting on the Magical Express yellow tag thingies and we’ll be all set. My travel agent sent Chawos along (Chawos is her stuffed cow puppet who travels the world with or without her. He came with us last trip, too) It’s fun getting pictures of Chawos doing fun things at Disney. He has his own Facebook page, you know! You can read about his adventures! Tonight I am planning on going through the packing list for my park bag. The suitcases are easy. It’s packing all the other “essentials” that can be tricky! I think I overdue the ziplock bags a bit. I have them all in catagories for different items. I’m such a dork! Seriously! I should take a picture of my baggie palooza! Speaking of pictures, I promised a picture of the scrapbook I ordered for this trip, so here it is:

In other news, we got 3 new chickens! Well, it’s 2 hens and one rooster and they are all partridge cochins. They are so cute. Now I have to work on getting these ones as friendly as my baby ones are. I will sit in a chair in their pen and the babies will fly up and get on my lap. It’s so cute! But, the new ones are adults and should be laying eggs soon. This will be so exciting!! We will have to separate the rooster as I really don’t want fertilized eggs! Peter and I worked on building their pen on Saturday, which was pretty theraputic for both of us.

I named the Rooster “Roo” and the hens are “Sweet Pea” and “Little Bitc..” because she is picking on everyone else in the pen. I’m sure I’ll change her name to a more appropriate one soon, but right now, that’s her name. I’m beginning to pick stuff up from my garden. I’ve had 2 pickings of string beans so far and there’s little baby watermelons on the vines. My corn is really getting tall, too! I’m pretty pleased at how it’s turning out this year. Both the cukes and pumpkin plants are just full of flowers, so I’m hoping for some of those soon, too.

I’ve ordered the new iphones for Victoria and I and they should be coming in this week. Victoria is very excited to get hers and it sure will be different for me to have something other than a Motorola Razor! I swear that thing is 10 years old now! We will be sharing data and minutes so this should be interesting. That child best learn how to limit her time and use free wi-fi when available! The first couple of months I’ll be monitoring the usage pretty closely! I’m still debating on taking our laptop or not. I’ll have access to the internet, but I hate typing on the phone! I guess I really won’t need to, but we’ll see. We didn’t take it last time, so we probably won’t have any need to take it this time either. I’m really excited to see what the bounceback offer will be.

Hopefully I am taking enough money with us. Peter will have his credit card, but I need to have all the money for tips & extras. We should be fine. I still need to purchase Universal Studios tickets. I’ll have to go look on the website to see if they are immediate delivery to my inbox or if it’s an actual hard ticket.

 

[Victoriasmom98]

I'm so very sorry to hear of your loss! Pets become a part of our family and it's tough when you lose one.

I'm so sorry, Ann. That must have been very difficult.

I'm so sorry about your cat. We recently lost our beloved black lab and we still miss her every day.

On a littler note I LOVED the you-tube video. Almost spit out my drink!

Amanda

So sorry for your loss!

Thanks everyone for the kind words. He will be missed dearly, but thank God this didn't happen while we were on our trip! I would have never forgiven myself for not being there with him. He was my baby!

 

[JDailey]

I can't believe your trip is getting so close!! I am so jealous.

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

I'm so excited for you! You're just over two weeks away from your trip! I can't wait for you to plan for next August since we'll be planning our DISmeet! The cow puppet thing your travel agent does must be neat. It sounds like Flat Stanley. I'm getting genuinely jealous of the little farm you've got going there! Chicks, chickens, a rooster, fruit, veggies!

 

[beachmama3]

Hi! Catching up on your PTR! So exciting that we Aug DISers are getting sooooo close!!! Love your new scrapbook- I may have to check that out on amazon!

I just checked out your other TR. Loved your honeymoon story and all of the times you got to participate in Disney magic- so awesome!!! Just started your second PTR (TRs have been my only reading for weeks, so thank you! haha!) Can I just say that once you mentioned Celbrations magazine, I had to immediately look it up? I am embarassed to say that I had never heard of it, but I must subscribe immediately!

 

[Angies1274]

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat.

On a brighter note....Yay for only 16 days!! You must be so excited!!!

The scrapbook is so cute that you got from Amazon. I saw it when we were at Disney and I was very tempted to pick it up.

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Well, Howdy folks!!! In just 2 short weeks from today we will be heading to Disney!!! This vacation is soooo needed! I went through my park bag/aka carryon bag and everything seems in order. I can’t pack the insulin yet as it’s refrigerated, but everything else is there and waiting. I will have to go to the bank this Wednesday and take out the money for my tip envelopes. I still haven’t stuffed those yet. I also have to order the Universal Studios tickets. I did read on their website that you can print them out after you order them, so that will be one less thing to think about while there. I will have to make arrangements with Mears shuttle to get transfers to and from Universal, but I can do that the night before. I’m still trying to decide whether I should iron my clothes before packing them. That seems kind of silly as they will probably be more wrinkled in the suitcase. Besides, if they are terribly wrinkled, there’s an iron in the resort room. I don’t know why I’m even thinking about that as I never iron at home. Boy, all this iron talk has me thinking about Lisa (Mickeystoontown). You all should read her trip report. It’s worth it, believe me!

I still haven’t received my yellow Magical Express, but people on the boards seem to think they are really not necessary as long as I bring our luggage claim tickets to the Magical Express counter in Orlando when we land. Ok. I’m taking their word for it. I guess things are seeming way too easy this time around, but I have done this quite a few times. All I’m doing is waiting….and waiting….and trying to work, but not being all that successful at it. Oh, my body is here….my mind? Yeah, definitely already in Disney! I have decided not to do online check-in. The general consensus seems to be that you are more likely to get your requests met and/or pixie dust magical upgrade if you check-in in person. I’m not sure what to believe and maybe I will do online check-in now that I think about it. Ugh! See? I haven’t really made up my mind yet. My only requests are ground floor (due to arthritis in my knee) and Jamaica 45 or Aruba 51 as those buildings are the closest to the food court without being preferred. We’ll see. Anybody have any thoughts on this one? Would love to hear them. If I do online check in, I can do that on the 9th so less than 1 week from today. Can anyone tell I’m excited?

I just have to share this off-topic incident with you all. This past Wednesday I had to go take my road test for my driver’s license again. Now, I’ve had my license since I was 17 years old and thought this was really weird. I had received a letter from the BMV stating that “due to my medical condition” I would be required to take a test. Ok, well, the only “condition” I really have is my diabetes and I know lots and lots of people with diabetes who don’t have to take their road test over again. Anyways, I was extremely nervous as I can’t imagine my life without my license (no public transportation here in town). I passed…whew…..but then I got a little annoyed and wanted to know exactly why I was chosen to take the road test. Oh, I found out, alright, and I was none too happy. See, every year BMV contacts my doctor to make sure I am physically well enough to drive. He fills out the paperwork and boom, I am good to go. Apparently this year he either misread the qualifications or something as this is the letter I am sending to my doctor:

Dear Dr.:

Remember I was telling you during my physical in July that I had to go for my Road Test to retain my license? I went this morning and I passed with no problems, but I contacted the Director of Licensing because I was curious why I was chosen to take the road test.

She responded with the following: “Upon review of your medical case file, the reason for your road evaluation is not due to diabetes but instead is due to the psychiatric disorder which Dr. blah=blah indicated on the report submitted and received in this office on June 19, 2012”. She also stated: “your doctor indicated a 3B profile level for a psychiatric disorder”. I’ve enclosed the disorder chart which I obtained off of their website.

I never considered my active impairment to be mild:

“Minimal ---- a. Current psychiatric disorder without impaired judgment, destructive thinking or intent, controlled with or without medication.

Mild ---- b. Same as (a), with potential for impaired judgment.
ROAD EVALUATION REQUIRED”

Do you truly believe I have the potential for impaired judgment? I have never once tried to hurt myself or others nor have I ever exhibited any behavior out of the realm of normality. I take a minimal dose of Zoloft at present time and I’m emotionally fine, I believe.

I just thought you might like to know what happened.

A psychiatric disorder??!!! Are you freaking kidding me?? Seriously??!!! Wow! Yes, I am taking a MILD dosage of Zoloft as I had extremely bad post-partum depression but folks, this was 14 YEARS AGO!!!! And yes, I’ve tried to stop taking them, but I find I get very emotional if I stop. They should worry if I DID stop taking them. Then you would really see some “impaired judgment”. Ugh! It’s just one thing after another in my life. Don’t you all love following this along? I don’t expect a response from my doctor, but I sure as heck want him to know what he put me through!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

I can't believe your trip is getting so close!! I am so jealous.

Oh, I'm so excited....you wouldn't believe it!!!

I'm so excited for you! You're just over two weeks away from your trip! I can't wait for you to plan for next August since we'll be planning our DISmeet! The cow puppet thing your travel agent does must be neat. It sounds like Flat Stanley. I'm getting genuinely jealous of the little farm you've got going there! Chicks, chickens, a rooster, fruit, veggies!

Yes, gotta love my little farm, huh? And, if you saw on Facebook, Peter brought home his Case 200 tractor. I have no idea what we would ever do with a huge tractor with only one acre of land, but oh well. It makes him happy! We will all have to set up our weeks to at least overlap by a day or two so we can get that meet set up! We'll be planning on August 16th through the 27th! And yes, Chawos the cow is just like a flat Stanley. It's really fun. Chawos is attending a wedding with us this weekend! Gotta make sure he enjoys his summer in Maine!

Hi! Catching up on your PTR! So exciting that we Aug DISers are getting sooooo close!!! Love your new scrapbook- I may have to check that out on amazon!

I just checked out your other TR. Loved your honeymoon story and all of the times you got to participate in Disney magic- so awesome!!! Just started your second PTR (TRs have been my only reading for weeks, so thank you! haha!) Can I just say that once you mentioned Celbrations magazine, I had to immediately look it up? I am embarassed to say that I had never heard of it, but I must subscribe immediately!

I'm so happy you are reading along. You can see I am praising the glory which is Team August!!!! That thread is so awesome! OH, you have a new magazine subscription now, huh? I really enjoy that one! It's very informative!

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat.

On a brighter note....Yay for only 16 days!! You must be so excited!!!

The scrapbook is so cute that you got from Amazon. I saw it when we were at Disney and I was very tempted to pick it up.

Thanks. He was such a good cat, but I know I will see him again one day. At least that's my opinion! I love that scrapbook. I usually scrap with strap-bound pages, but those are getting so hard to find unless you use Creative Memories products. So, I've opted this time for the typical post bound one. We'll see how I do. I did my wedding album with post bound pages and it wasn't that bad. I guess I just have to get used to it! I've been reading along in your TR, too. I believe the last day I read was when you guys went to T-Rex. We liked it there, too!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I was reading along and then you mentioned packing an iron and I laughed out loud. Then, you said that talking about an iron made you think of me and I laughed again. Go ahead! Pack that iron...that's what I would do.

It's almost time to leave for your trip and you get a letter saying that you need to take your driver's exam again. Do all doctors who prescribe Zoloft have to report that to the Department of Motor Vehicles? If that's the case, I can just imagine the huge stack of doctors' letters on their desks.

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Ann! TEN DAYS!!! I'm glad you passed your drivers test. When I was reading your post, I was thinking, 'You've got to be kidding me," because I think that's pretty silly that your doctor didn't give you your OK this year. You're probably right that he misread the form, because can you imagine how long the lines in the DMV would be of they retested everyone on a low dose of Zoloft? I'm glad you wrote that letter to him. Hopefully you won't have the same issue next year. What a pain! Anyway, I forgot you guys were going to Universal too! I'm so excited for you and your family! Single Digit Dance tomorrow!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Well, I did online check-in today. Even though I didn’t see my requests on the screen, my TA assures me that she put my requests on the ressie as well as it’s our second wedding anniversary. We’ll see. I just hope I’m in Jamaica section on the ground floor. After all, they are not guaranteed anyways, so wish me pixie dust everyone, ok? It would be much appreciated! I am really nervous about online check-in as some people on the boards seem to think by doing this it wipes out all the requests. I can’t imagine that is true. Why would it be? It would make no sense. But then I think about last year and I didn’t get anything I requested and I did do online. Hmm…..maybe it’s just the luck on the draw? Oh well…..too late now, it’s done! Maybe we’ll get pixie dust and get upgraded! Who knows. All I know is that I really, really need this vacation.

Not too much going on right now. Tomorrow is a big day as it’s payday and it’s all devoted to Disney-related items: $200 for 11 TS meal tips and mousekeeping envelopes. I am putting $15 per meal as it’s always close to that with tipping 18%. I put $3 per day for mousekeeping. I know, that comes up to $198. I’m just rounding it out. I have a list for the bank as to how many of each $5’s, $10’s and $1’s I will need. They are probably going to look at me like I’m nuts. Oh well. Deal with it! Then I have to purchase the Universal Studios 1day/1park tickets which totals $176 plus taxes/fees. Then I have to make sure there is enough money for Cutie’s vet appointment which I’m hoping won’t go over $200. Anyone adding this up yet? Ugh! (and I have to set aside my car payment of $165) This will leave me with roughly $300 in spending money. We have the dining plan, so the meals are paid for. I will have my credit card for back up, so I should be all set. Except for souveniers, what exactly would I be spending money on, anyways, right? Oh, I also have a $60 Disney gift card. Also tomorrow I have to buy a bag of dog food for the dog sitter and a back of cat litter and cat box liners so not to run out. Oh, and a bag of rabbit pellets. The hamsters, guinea pigs, cats and chickens all have enough food.

What am I forgetting guys? There’s got to be something…….I know I have to finish the hood part of my Disney Bag Rain Poncho, so I will be getting to that soon. I have enough batteries and memory cards. Anyone think of anything??

I had to call Magical Express as I still have not received my yellow luggage stickers. The person I spoke with states she will be mailing them out and I should have them by Tuesday. Let’s hope so. I have no idea why I’m freaking out as I’ve done this enough times!

I can’t work…..I’m physically here, but my mind is just racing. I can only imagine what the next 7 working days days are going to be like. I’m really trying to concentrate, but it’s just not happening! I seem to be on the Disboards constantly and that’s not helping me work whatsoever!! Ugh!!!!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

I hope you get your room requests! I was laughing about you talking about the bank because I used to do the same thing when I budgeted using the envelope system. I took a list with me that said the exact amount of ones, fives, tens and twenties I needed. I was fairly certain that they thought I was crazy when I'd hand them that paper But that's their job, right? I'm pretty sure they've seen worse Anyway, it seems like you have everything covered. I can't think of anything else you may need to do... Except celebrate! TEN DAYS!!!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Sooooooo.......as some of you might know, my hubby works about one hour away from home and is trying to find a job closer to where we live. He's been with his company now for over 20 years, but he just doesn't want to be on the road for 2 hours when he could be home with us....(Awe....so sweet!)

He received a letter from the State saying that they would like to interview him for a position which would be located in the next town (15 minute drive versus 1 hour). This is sounding great, huh? Well the interview is scheduled for FRIDAY, AUGUST 17TH AT 7AM!!!! Um, hello??? We have to be leaving the house for the airport in Manchester, NH by 8am for a 12:15pm flight! As long as his interview doesn't go past 8am, we should be ok as long as I have EVERYTHING packed, the car gassed up and our map out. (Yes, we are map people and not GPS). Drinks/snacks will be in the little cooler and ready to go.

I'm totally excited for this interview for him, but I am soooooooooooooo nervous we won't make the flight. Everything will have to be perfect with no major highway tie ups or construction. Wish us luck!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

I just got a letter from my doctor regarding the situation in red in post #151. It states the following:



Thank you for your letter of August 1. I must apologize to you for incorrectly classifying you on the Driver Medical Evaluation Functional Ability Profile. I agree that your judgment is unimpaired. I have contacted the Bureau of Motor Vehicles regarding this situation and was advised that I can revise your profile. To that end, I have submitted a new profile reclassifying your psychiatric disorder (depression) to 3A. I realize that this will not undo any inconvenience and aggravation that you have already experienced, but is should at least correct the record.


I am very glad he took the time to answer my letter and at least acknowlege the inconvience I did go through. Nothing like extra stress before the Disney trip to keep me on my toes!!!

At work today, some of my friends decided to bring their Mickey ears in and we got some pictures;

I love that my buddies support my Disney habit!!! And they don't think I'm crazy....or do they???

 

[Nurse_Mommy4]

Sorry to be late to the party! I am loving your PTR though!

I can't believe our trips are getting so close!:banana

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Good luck to the hubs on that interview! You'll be cutting it close, but I'm sure it'll work out fine and you'll catch your plane I'm glad your doctor responded to your letter and is resolving the issue! I think it's wonderful that your coworkers support your Disney habit!